When a milking animal, such as a cow, presents itself for milking it is important to ensure that the teat cups to be attached to the teats of the milking animal are clean and free of any condition that could contaminate the teats of the milking animal. This need applies to both manual and automatic application of milking apparatus.
Therefore, it is customary to clean the teat cups between the milking of each milking animal, where either a cleaning liquid or pure water is used.
It is also customary, for the same reason, to clean the teats of each milking animal prior to the attachment of the teat cups. For teat cleaning, dedicated teat cleaning cups or brushes may be employed.
However, while such cleaning removes dirt from the teats and provides for an overall hygienic environment, there is nevertheless a risk of communicating infections, such as for instance mastitis, from one animal to another.
In Research Disclosure, April 2000, publication No. 444037, p. 530, is proposed to spray the surfaces of the teat cups and the teat cleaning cups that potentially are exposed to the animals with hot steam to heat up the surfaces to a temperature, at which bacteria are killed. It is also proposed to illuminate the surfaces with UV light.